


SoC Tumblr  Compilation

by wafflesandkruge



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, Gen, High School AU, Imagines, M/M, Role Swap AU, cold war au, headcanons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2019-10-31 12:09:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 46
Words: 16,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17849204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wafflesandkruge/pseuds/wafflesandkruge
Summary: Compilation of Six of Crows headcanons and drabbles from my Tumblr bc I think more people should see them lol.There's a separate one for King of Scars.





	1. SoC TV Teaser Insp.

Black screen, loud whispering in the background

Beat [if you’ve listened to Lorde’s cover of Everybody Wants to Rule the World, you know what I’m talking about]

“I protect my investments”

Shot of someone calf down striding through a puddle-y street with a cane, flickers off to black

Beat

“I’ll die on my feet with a knife in my hands”

Shot of someone landing into a crouch, a knife in each hand, flickers to black

Beat

“I’ll take my chances”

Shot, Chest down, someone drawing twin revolvers from holsters and twirling them, flickers to black

Beat

“I’ll make it matter.”

Shot, shoulders down from the back, someone slipping on a red Kefta, flickers to black

Beat

“I won’t be kept from this oath”

Shot from the back shoulders down, someone with a gun slung over their back walks away from the camera, flickers to black

Beat

“I know the difference.”

Shot of someone, shoulders down, wearing a messenger bag and holding a book and various smoking and fizzing things, flickers to black

Whispers from background get louder, overlapping voices start calling out

“Greed is your God”

“The Dregs have come calling”

“The heart is an arrow”

“The ice does not forgive”

“Brick by brick.”

“No mourners.”

Suddenly the whispers stop.

The dregs reply in unison. “No funerals.”

Screen flashes to the full shot of the six, basically from the previous six scenes put together. They all stare at the camera defiantly. Quick cuts to each of their faces in reverse order from the beginning. When it gets to Kaz, it flickers to  his trademark razor-sharp I-will-cut-you-smile.

Screen goes black, title card comes up.     


	2. Kanej Drabble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From a tumblr prompt: "After years of training, Inej finally wins Kaz in a fight and he clearly is very proud of her. Later in that day, while lying on her bed thinking about Kaz praising her abilities, Inej realized how fucked up she is. Because the truth is, even saying to herself to do not fall in love with the Dirtyhands, she somehow ended up loving him. Inej can't help but say a soft "fuck" under her breath."

As she faced off against Kaz, Inej couldn’t understand why she was so nervous. It wasn’t as if Kaz would throw her back into the Menagerie after his years of investment into her, even if she couldn’t beat him. But there was an air of finality about this spar, like it was her last chance to show him that he had made the right choice in taking her away from Heleen.  

He looked indifferent, as usual. The only thing that was changed was instead of his usual black overcoat, he wore a grisha-made coat that was impervious to most blades, the only precaution either one of them had taken in case of an “accident.” Inej, as preferred, wore no armor, so a single well placed blow from Kaz’s cane could easily shatter bone.

Jesper stood between them, a shit-eating grin stretching across his face. He’d pulled Inej aside earlier and confided that he’d bet twenty kruge on her, so she better beat the crap out of Kaz. Now, he nodded at both of them, them stepped off the mat. Inej drew Sankt Petyr.

“Begin!”

They circled each other, waiting for an opening. Inej kept her eyes trained on Kaz’s cane. She’d seen how versatile of a weapon it could be and she certainly didn’t want to be on the wrong side of it. She should rush in, block the cane, and take advantage of his bad leg. As she drew another knife and prepared to dash in, Kaz suddenly lunged. His cane swept towards her head. She quickly bent backwards and air whooshed over her face. As its momentum kept it moving away from her, she sprang towards Kaz, knives extended. He danced back, just out of reach, and his cane connected with her side. She tumbled back to where she had started.

It wasn’t too painful, but it would definitely bruise. Across the mat, Kaz raised an eyebrow at her. Was that the best you had?

Without thinking, she rushed in. The cane swang, but she rolled under it and came up under Kaz’s guard. He gave a hard stomp to her right wrist. With a small cry of pain, Sankta Petyr clattered out of her hand. Sankta Alina in her left went for his throat. His cane went up. But before it could connect with her face, the edge of Sankta Alina kissed Kaz’s throat. She’d won.

Before she could fully process this, Jesper came into the ring, whooping. He lifted her onto his shoulders. “You just won me a hundred kruge, Inej!”

Kaz gave her a nod. She could have sworn he had a small smile too, but he quickly turned around and started walking out. “Welcome to the Dregs, Wraith.”

* * *

Later that night, Inej lay in bed, her body still humming with some irrational happiness. She’d passed whatever imaginary standard had been set for her. Kaz acknowledged her. Kaz was proud of her. Kaz- Saints save her. She had feelings for Kaz Brekker.

Her soft “fuck” melted into the still air of her empty room.


	3. Wesper Headcanon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesper Angsty Prompt?

  * They’re working a job for Kaz (because you never really leave the Dregs)
  * And Jesper was a little careless
  * Maybe it was a slip of the tongue
  * Or his crow and cup tattoo wasn’t as well hidden as he’d thought
  * But the next thing they know, they’re waking up bound in the back of a cart headed Ghezen knows where
  * Wylan, understandably, is a little upset at Jesper
  * But then he looks at Jesper in the dim light
  * And the usually cocky and grinning Jesper looks absolutely  _devastated_
  * “I did it again,” he whispers
  * And then Wylan remembers what happened with Inej and the  _Ferolind_
  * His hands are tied in front of him, but he still tries to touch Jesper’s face
  * “It’s not your fault, Jes. We’re gonna be okay”
  * He doesn’t know whether he believes himself, but Jesper looks like he feels the tiniest better
  * They hold hands as best as they can and wait for something to happen
  * Jesper misses his revolvers, and he’s so high strung at the moment he can’t focus his Grisha powers
  * Wylan’s thoughts are racing through every possible scenario, most of which end messily
  * But soon enough, the cart screeches to a stop, throwing Wylan against Jesper
  * They instinctively curl towards each other, bracing themselves for something, anything
  * There’s a short scuffle from the front, then the doors are thrown open
  * Only to reveal Inej, not a hair out of place
  * She raises an eyebrow at their precarious position.
  * “Well, let’s go, Kaz expects us back by sundown.”
  * They clamber out and she helps cut the ropes
  * On the way back to Ketterdam, they don’t let go of each other’s hands




	4. Kanej Short Fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "So, you know whenever Inej walks into a room (or comes in through the window)and Kaz doesn't see her he knows she is there and says "Hello, Wraith."? I wonder if whenever she is out on the seas he ever thinks he 'heard' her and says "Hello, Wraith" before he remembers she isn't there and it's just the wind."

The first time Inej entered his office through the window, he head her coming. Her cheap boots made scratching sounds on the rough brick and Kaz was alerted before she’d even reached the second floor. “Hello, Wraith.”

She clambered through the window and pulled her hood down. It’d been about a week since she’d left the Menagerie, and Kaz was pleased to see her color had improved somewhat. But her spywork needed improvement. “I could hear you a mile away. Don’t come back here until you can do it soundlessly. With these on.”

He handed her a small carved box. Inside were anklets with dozens of little bells strung on them- not unlike the ones she’d worn at the Menagerie. She nodded mutely and left his office.

* * *

 

The second time had been about a month after the first. Kaz had been worried- Inej had disappeared for long stretches of the nights, only to reappear at the Slat in the mornings. When he’d put a tail on her, they’d all reported the same thing- she was practicing climbing in the warehouse district. He’d then discreetly posted at least two guards every night to make sure she didn’t land into any trouble she wasn’t prepared for.

“Hello, Wraith.” Inej paused, half of her body still outside the window.

“How did you know?” They were the first words Inej had spoken to him in almost two weeks. Her thick Suli accent only made her sound more confused.

“I don’t let the same person sneak up on me twice. But you passed. The anklets.” He extended the box, and Inej deposited them. He closed the lid, then chucked the whole thing into the fireplace. She watched them burn with a small curl of her lips, then was gone as quickly as she’d appeared.

* * *

 

The next time, Kaz was busy working on accounts for the Crow Club. He hardly looked up. “Hello, Wraith.”

She made a small noise of acknowledgement, then crossed his office to the small cabinet of medical supplies. He heard some clattering around, then Inej plopped onto a chair and started treating herself. “Inej, what’s- Ghezen!”

She’d tracked bloody footprints all over his office, from the window, to the cabinet, to the chair where she now sat wincing as she cleaned the cut and blistered undersides of her feet. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up.”

“That’s not- what happened?”

She gave a non-committal shrug. “My boots wore out. I climb better without shoes anyways, but I am not used to Ketterdam yet.”

“Don’t be stupid, you’ll contract some disease before the day is out. Borrow a pair from someone downstairs until you get paid.”

“As you say.”

As soon as Inej was gone, Kaz paid a visit to a Grisha fabrikator.

* * *

Kaz sat at his desk, a blank letter in front of him. With a sigh, he squared his shoulders and put his pen to the paper.  _Esteemed Council of Tides…_

If there was one thing Kaz hated more than not getting what he wanted, it was kissing up to people. He stuffed the scrawled letter into an envelope and got out his wax seal. Just as he started to melt the wax, his candle blew out with a gust of wind. “Hello, Wraith.”

There wasn’t a response. Kaz glanced at the window. There wasn’t a soul in this office other than his, and that was debatable. Swearing softly to himself, he relit the candle and sealed the letter.

On his way to the Council of Tides, he passed by The Wraith’s berth. It was empty, as it had been for a month. Kaz glanced at the horizon. It wasn’t quite enough for him just to know she was out there somewhere, bringing down justice to those who deserved it. At every moment, he craved her silent presence next to his, her bright smiles, even her Suli proverbs. But he wouldn’t be the one to tie her down. With one last glance, he entered the Council of Tides’ tower.

After the meeting, he walked back down the harbor towards the Slat. Perhaps there’d be an interesting brawl tonight, or Jesper would pay a visit. He passed by berth twenty two. Then spun around. It was occupied, the crew already busy unloading. A voice came from the dark behind him.

“Hello, Kaz.”


	5. Wesper Headcanon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy Wesper prompt

  * One day, Wylan receives a mailed death threat
  * It’s nothing specific, just a thinly veiled implication that some “accident” was going to befall him soon
  * No matter how much Jesper and the other Dregs investigate, they can’t figure out who sent it
  * So of course, the next logical step for Jesper is to be glued to Wylan’s side 24/7
  * “Jes, I really don’t think I’m going to be murdered inside my own bathroom.”
  * Jesper, outside the door, yells back “You never know!”
  * Wylan gets more and more irritated as the week drags on
  * He can’t work with Jesper breathing down his neck
  * So one day he sneaks out
  * Surprisingly, it’s not too hard
  * He goes to his usual suppliers, trying to run some errands for this and that
  * He’s at an alchemical shop, bartering with the store owner for the price of copper oxide
  * And before he knows it, a hood is thrown over his head and he’s dragged out
  * He tries to fight, he really does
  * But he’s easily overpowered, and they toss him into an empty warehouse
  * He’s chained up, and before his kidnappers leave, he hears them muttering about their boss showing up soon
  * They leave him there for hours, hood still on
  * His legs go numb and he’s freezing
  * He wishes they would get on with it
  * Several hours later, just when he’s considering biting through his tongue and drowning himself, there were rapid gunshots and the warehouse doors creak open
  * A familiar voice drifts towards him
  * “Hello,Merchling. Got yourself in quite a jam, didn’t you?”
  * Wylan wants to sob in relief, but Jesper has no time for sentimentals as he yanks the hood off Wylan and snaps the cuffs around his wrists
  * Quite roughly, he’s dragged out of the warehouse, Jesper scolding him the entire time
  * “That was stupid…irresponsible…you’re not leaving the house for a month…”
  * Wylan tunes it out and focuses on the bodies slumped against the outer walls of the warehouse, each one with a clean hole through their hearts
  * Jesper notices and pivots Wylan so he’s looking away from them
  * “It was a necessary precaution”
  * “Jesper…”
  * “There isn’t anything that can keep me from you, Wylan.”
  * That brings a small smile to Wylan’s face
  * “Even Kaz?”
  * Jesper blanches. “Except maybe Kaz. And Inej. Maybe Nina. Our friends are pretty scary people, Wy.”
  * Wylan just laughs and buries his face in Jesper’s chest as they step into a skiff on the canal to take them home. “My brave, brave, Jesper.
  * Jesper runs his fingers through Wylan’s tangled curls. “My brave, brave, Wylan.”




	6. Wesper Angsty Headcanon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angsty Wesper prompt

  * Wylan sometimes has nightmares about drowning after being pushed
  * Some nights, it’s his father who pushes him, a cruel smirk to his lips
  * Other nights, it’s a faceless thug from the barrel
  * Either way, he ends up in the freezing water with no help in sight
  * He flails desperately, but the water drags him under, the cold numbing his senses until his only conscious thought is to keep his lips firmly clamped together
  * Until it’s too much and he gasps and the water comes rushing in and he wakes up, chest heaving and gaze wild
  * Before he started living at the Van Eck mansion, he always woke up alone in his cramped room at the Slat
  * Kaz noticed his hands shaking one day and demanded to know what was wrong before Wylan would spill something while doing demo work
  * Wylan confesses to the nightmares, staring at his shoes and wringing his hands
  * Kaz doesn’t say anything, but reaches under his desk, pulls out a half-empty bottle of cheap liquor, and hands it over to Wylan
  * That night, Wylan chokes down the burning liquid, so different from the sweet wine of his previous life
  * Thankfully, his sleep is deep and dreamless, even if he does wake up with a massive headache
  * He starts spending a portion of his pay on bottles of whatever cheap spirits he could find 
  * He goes through a bottle a week but it works, his nightmares don’t come back
  * Even after the events that ended with him in charge of his father’s empire, he keeps a bottle of something in his bedroom for when he wakes in the night
  * Jesper never asks, only wraps his arms around Wylan a little tighter as he crawls back into bed




	7. Kanej Headcanon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "Inej breaks a bone and has learn to adjust to being a badass ninja after that. Kaz helps and trains her."

  * Inej, surprisingly, wasn’t careful enough one day
  * It was a run she’d made hundreds of times, if not thousands, and she was in a rush after a big job
  * The tiles were slick from fog and perhaps she was due for a new pair of climbing shoes
  * Either way, her foot slips and she goes tumbling off a rooftop near Fifth Harbor
  * Luckily, there was a balcony a floor below her, but she lands awkwardly and suddenly her right wrist makes a sound she knows too well from watching Kaz and his cane
  * She bites her lip so hard it bleeds, but she wouldn’t cry out, not when there could still be people following her
  * She tends to it as best as she can, then swings down with one hand and hurries back to the Slat
  * Nina heals the worst of the damage, but she doesn’t trust herself to heal it all the way
  * Inej is prescribed with a month of rest before she can use it normally, but she takes two weeks off and declares herself physically fit
  * However, she knows something’s wrong when she’s on a job and her throwing knife misses the target by almost a foot
  * He gets away and Kaz is enraged when she reports back
  * “I might as well sell you back to the Menagerie now if you can’t do your job”
  * Inej looks like she’s been slapped, she walks out of his office without another word
  * She holes herself up in the basement of the Slat which is usually reserved for sparring and training
  * Other Dregs stay away from the room, terrified at the sight of Inej eviscerating straw dummies with her knives
  * She most definitely imagines Kaz face on a couple of the dummies
  * After the first two days, someone clears his throat behind her
  * Kaz doesn’t meet her eyes
  * “I was thinking…Would you like a sparring partner?”
  * She knew it was as much of an apology as she would get
  * She accepts and then he’s there almost every evening, helping her strengthen her wrist again until she can once again hit a bullseye from the other side of the room
  * She resumes working and he never brings up the incident again until one tranquil afternoon
  * Inej is feeding the crows as usual and he’s going through obligatory paperwork
  * “I wouldn’t have done it, you know.”
  * Inez knows what he’s referring to, but feigns confusion.
  * “Done what?”
  * “Sold you back to Heleen.”
  * Kaz watches Inej’s face as she seems to ponder his words for a moment
  * Then suddenly, she shrugs and her gaze drifts back to the sky outside
  * “I know.”




	8. Kaz/Jesper First Meeting Headcanon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: "Write Kaz and Jesper's first meeting! (If you want :))"

  * One day, Kaz was called into Per Haskell’s office
  * The boss’ arm was around the shoulders of a grinning Zemeni boy no older than Kaz
  * At first, Kaz thought he was another mark, a pigeon ripe for plucking
  * But then he noticed the revolvers holstered at his waist and the crow and cup already branded on his forearm
  * “This is Jesper, a newly minted Dreg. I’ll be putting him under your wing until I find a better use for him.”
  * Kaz immediately started protesting, but Per Haskell didn’t want to hear it and dismissed then both
  * Kaz stomped out of the Slat, Jesper following not too far behind
  * This marked the beginning of a complicated partnership
  * Kaz absolutely  _hated_  Jesper
  * He smiled too much, was too flamboyant, and even tried to flirt with Kaz once before he’d threatened to punch his stupid face in
  * But when he was alone at night, Kaz envied Jesper’s life
  * He had a loving father, which was apparent from the letters he’d receive at the Slat every week
  * He had an opportunity for a better life (one he was certainly squandering by hanging out with the Dregs rather than going to school, but still)
  * However, no matter how hard he tries to push Jesper away, the boy kept on following him around, the swagger and friendliness never dimming
  * When it came to picking crews for jobs, Kaz learned to always pick Jesper or he would follow along anyways, whining about Kaz’s “betrayal” the entire time
  * It was on a job like this where Jesper finally gained Kaz’s elusive trust
  * They were robbing a Mercher’s house, nothing too difficult, but not quite a walk in the park either
  * As they finished the job and half their team was already out the window to escape, Kaz spied a valuable painting, one thought to have been destroyed during the Ravkan Civil War
  * He couldn’t resist and motioned for the rest of the team to go ahead as he disabled the alarms around it
  * Much to his annoyance, Jesper remained at the windowsill, keeping guard for him
  * It was so much easier to be caught when there were two people rather than just one
  * He freed the painting and tucked it into his coat and together, he and Jesper slipped out of the house and started heading back to the Crow Club to stash the goods
  * On the way back, they ran into trouble
  * They were cutting through Dime Lions territory as a shortcut, and one of their sentries noticed
  * Suddenly, a dozen members of the rival gang was on their tails, guns blazing
  * Kaz employs some very choice words as he drags Jesper to a dark alley and they both clamber up a fire escape to the rooftops
  * Jesper is doing his best to lay down cover fire, but two revolvers can only do so much against twelve
  * Jesper’s picked off about half of them when one of them get in a lucky shot and Kaz tumbles off the roof they’d been running across
  * The next thing Kaz knows, someone’s half-supporting, half-carrying him back to the Slat. His leg sends a stab of pain every inch they move and he groans, alerting Jesper
  * “Don’t look down. We’ll get it fixed soon,” he encourages with a strained smile
  * Kaz does so anyways and feels a wave of nausea. It wasn’t pretty. He decides to focus on Jesper instead
  * “Where are the Dime Lions?”
  * “Dead.”
  * Kaz is silent as Jesper drags him through the doors of the Slat and calls for a medik
  * Then he decides to ask the burning question from his mind. “Why didn’t you leave me? It’s what everyone else would have done.”
  * Jesper winks. “I can’t leave my future employer behind.”
  * Then the medik arrives and Jesper disappears in the flurry of activity. 
  * After Kaz more or less heals, he hobbles over to an art dealer and fences the painting he stole before the fall
  * After commissioning a cane from a Grisha fabrikator, he drops a large portion of the remaining kruge in Jesper’s room, knowing it would probably be wasted at the gambling houses, but nonetheless wanting to show his gratitude in some small, insignificant way




	9. Headcanons for All Main Pairings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "Anything fluffy headcannons with the soc pairings. I lov your stuff!"

Mmmmm…maybe what the pairings find endearing about each other?

## Kaz:

  * As we all know, he loves Inej’s smile
  * So much so that he starts going out of his way to try to see it more often
  * He buys her flowers everyday until her room looks like a garden
  * Her smile always starts with her eyes, then the corners of her lips
  * Every time, it’s like watching the sun come out again and he lives from one smile to the next



## Inej:

  * She never tells him this, but she thinks he always looks best when working at his desk
  * When his brow is furrowed and his lips are pursed in concentration, he could be any respectable businessman, not just a gang leader
  * During long, lazy afternoons, Inej perches on the windowsill and watches him work, and when she’s looking somewhere else, Kaz is sneaking glances at her



## Nina:

  * Nina really likes it when Matthias lifts her and spins her around like she weighs nothing
  * He always brings her waffles after a long day of work from her favorite place even though the line is ridiculously long
  * Somewhere along the way, she’s gotten Matthias to stay in bed with her in the mornings instead of him waking up at an ungodly hour
  * He always cooks breakfast for them because he claims her cooking can kill someone faster than her magic could



## Matthias:

  * Nina always fusses over him when he gets home after a job, even if it was just babysitting Wesper’s kid
  * He’s pretty sure his immune system is awful at this point because Nina always heals the smallest hurts from a papercut to the common cold, but he never tells her otherwise because he loves seeing the sparkle in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks that comes from using her power
  * In the mornings, he still wakes up early from old habit, but stays because Nina complains about being cold. Some days, he reads quietly until Nina wakes up, but most days he just cuddles and admired how peaceful she looks sleeping



## Wylan:

  * Jesper usually brings home little gifts for him, and when he protested this, Jesper just winks and says it’s technically Wylan’s money anyways, it’s like treating himself
  * Jesper secretly learns how to read music and tried composing a piece for their anniversary
  * What Wylan likes best about Jesper is that he always tries his best and gives 110% effort even if it turns out horrible (like that anniversary original composition)



## Jesper:

  * Wylan once spent two weeks being distant and Jesper feared for the worst, but it turned out he’d been searching for sheet music of a Zemeni folk song that Jesper’s mother used to sing to him
  * When Wylan played it for him for his birthday, Jesper didn’t bother hiding his tears




	10. Inej/Matthias Platonic Headcanons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Platonic Inej and Matthias headcanons

  * They always rant to each other when they get pissed at Kaz. Which happens. A lot.
  * Healthy debates about what’s the best way to win a war- Inej prefers espionage and wit whereas Matthias prefers military strength and unity
  * Just being smart together oml
  * Matthias letting her ride on his shoulders so she can “feel tall”
  * Kaz is v jealous, Nina is dying laughing
  * Speaking of height, Matthias once held the last waffle over his head because Inej had way too many and goddamnit he wanted one too
  * Without even blinking, she easily climbs onto his shoulders and snatches it
  * Inej trying to teach him beginning acrobatics, but Matthias is not a flexible boi
  * After a week, he can touch his toes and they count that as a victory
  * Actually one of the most reliable teams in the Dregs?
  * No nonsense, they get the job done and they’re out
  * Inej likes taking Matthias when she goes out to do stuff like shopping bc he’s less conspicuous than Kaz, but still scares away unwanted attention
  * Teaching each other about their respective cultures and religions???
  * They have so much respect for each other (and Matthias still has a healthy dose of fear of Inej and her knives)
  * Post-CK (he’s alive don’t tell me otherwise) Inej invites him and Nina on a trip to Ravka with her
  * They meet Inej’s family and they all fuss over the two “foreigners”
  * Kaz knows they’re super close, so he makes Matthias promise him that he’ll take care of Inej if anything were to happen to him




	11. Competitive Companies AU pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "Competitive companies au, kaz is the COO of Dregs LLC,"

(Imma age them up a little, so like early to mid 20s)

  * No one really remembers how Dregs LLC rose to power
  * It might or might not have been illegal, but no matter how far the detectives try to look for evidence, their record is almost too squeaky clean
  * Kaz Brekker, the young and mysterious COO frequently appears on lists of wealthy people under 30, but he’s notorious for being extremely private
  * There aren’t many photos of him online other than the simple headshot that can be found on their website
  * Inej is an investigative reporter with a focus on human rights
  * She spends weeks researching Dregs LLC, trying to find out where all their power came from
  * (She most definitely has a conspiracy board in her bedroom, complete with red string and scribbled on photos)
  * She meets Kaz after sneaking into Dregs headquarters for some investigating (snooping)
  * They have a rough start, but soon grow on each other
  * Nina is Kaz’s second in command and the unofficial spokesperson
  * The media loves her, even though she’s infamous for being able to talk around things so well that you would learn nothing new from an hour of conversation
  * In one recent interview, reporters noticed an engagement ring and sparked an entire twitter search for the lucky person
  * They never found them
  * Matthias works with a private security firm that Dregs LLC hires occasionally
  * He was assigned to Nina while she made a business trip to Paris and to his exasperation, he was used more as a shopping cart as she made her way through trendy boutiques
  * They got to know each other well after hours spent on trains and planes together and started formally going out after they got back
  * Much to Kaz’s frustration, she develops a habit of skipping out on work to go on dates with him in the name of “forming a good business relationship with his company”
  * Wylan is a photographer who sometimes helps Inej out
  * He’s known for taking gorgeous portraits of seemingly ordinary people 
  * He meets Jesper at one of his gallery events and agrees to go on a date with him
  * The first date soon turns into many more
  * Jesper is Kaz’s right hand man and is usually his middle man with subcontractors
  * He frequently gets sent on business trips, which Wylan isn’t too happy about
  * But Jesper somehow convinces Kaz that he should be allowed to take Wylan, and soon Wylan becomes more of an internationally known photographer
  * The first time all six are in the same place is a holiday party Nina throws
  * It ends in several non-disclosure agreements and the hiring of a deep-cleaning company




	12. Cold War AU pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "soc...'70s au"

You never said 70’s  **in**  America hhehehehe welcome to the Cold War

  * The Dregs are already established in New York City as a successful gang
  * Among them, the Crows are an elite team, usually sent to deal with the worst and most challenging jobs
  * One day, the CIA approaches them with an offer: Infiltrate Albania to assassinate dictator Enver Hoxha for the fine tune of $30 million
  * None of the agents they’d previously sent had been heard from again, they were getting desperate
  * Kaz, as the leader of the Dregs, accepts
  * And so, the Dregs clamber into an unmarked military plane in the early hours of morning and are shipped to Italy where they craft their covers and smuggle themselves into Albania
  * And where so many before them had failed in even breaching the borders, the Dregs easily slip in unnoticed with their new identities
  * Kaz is a young Party secretary, along with his new wife, Inej. They cross from Greece, claiming to have been on their honeymoon.
  * Matthias and Nina are able to pose as schoolteachers thanks to their multilingualism. They take a ship from Italy to Albania and are welcomed with open arms.
  * Wylan has papers drawn up identifying him as an artist coming to study the socialist realism style. The border guards trust his innocent, boyish looks and don’t bother examining the papers too closely.
  * Jesper pretends to be a doctor that was away for business in Yugoslavia. Although the guards are suspicious, the papers are undeniably legitimite. What Jesper did to obtain them, he never tells Wylan.
  * After almost a month of living in these carefully constructed lies, the Dregs simultaneously make their way to the capitol, where the biggest heist of all time was going to take place…




	13. 2018 Secret Santa Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secret Santa Gift for @queenofmotherfuckingterrasen on tumblr

“What do you mean you lost Kuwei?” Kaz asked with narrowed eyes. After an absolutely terrible day, he didn’t have the patience to deal with Nina’s antics. The grisha in question gave a casual shrug and her best apologetic smile. “Well, you know how the harbors are. He wanted some jiao zi as soon as we disembarked, so I let him run ahead to a food stall. And when I got there, he wasn’t there.”

“Ghezen, Nina. Are you telling me you lost the last person who knows how to make jurda parem?”

“Hmmmm….yes?”

Kaz sighed and ran a gloved hand through his hair. “Then we are in some deep shit.”

* * *

The two of them wandered down Fifth Harbor. As they passed by berth 22, Kaz let out a sigh. If only Inej was here, she’d be able to find Kuwei instantly. He didn’t trust any of his spiders enough to let them know what was going on, it was just him and Nina. And unfortunately, Nina wasn’t much help. The grisha didn’t seem to comprehend the magnitude of the situation. Kuwei was supposed to be dead, Kaz had made sure of it after the whole auction fiasco. If he suddenly turned up alive, the City Council would have his head. The laws of Ghezen was something that even he couldn’t cross.

“Nina dearest, do you have a plan? We can’t put out a notice for a dead man. I can’t threaten anyone without them being alerted Kuwei is alive. And if whoever’s got him goes to the Council, we’re all going down,” Kaz growled, frustrated.

“Relax, Kaz. Like calls to like. We’ll find him.”

“And if we don’t, you better take me along with you back to Ravka.”

“Of course. Let’s head to the White Rose first to see if he turned up.”

* * *

He was not at the White Rose. Or the Van Eck mansion. Wylan was understandably very confused when they asked if he’d seen the Shu boy, but his answer was still no. By the time the pair got to the Slat, Kaz was ready to resign himself to his fate and board that boat to Ravka. Or better yet, have that boat find Inej’s ship and he’d live the rest of his days at her mercy.

Nina still didn’t look the slightest bit concerned. Her leisurely steps didn’t quite match up with Kaz’s quick and purposeful strides.

“Maybe it’s time for you to use some Grisha magic, Nina dearest.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“So you don’t have a magical homing beacon? And thought the grisha were supposed to be almighty, Zenik.” They stepped into the Dregs’ headquarters and instantly Kaz knew something was wrong. The lights were too dim and the usually lively building was dead silent. Panicked, he hefted his cane and grabbed at Nina’s kefta. “Nina-”

“SURPRISE, KAZ!”

The symphony of voices assaulted him as the lights blazed on. The Slat had been decked out for the holidays- bright streamers hung from the rafters and tables of food and drinks had been set out. Familiar faces crowded the foyer, each one with nearly identical gleeful smiles.

“What in the name of-”

“We decided to celebrate Yulemas this year, Kaz,” Inej’s voice said quietly from behind him. Kaz whirled around to find the Suli girl smiling softly at him. Her skin was darker than when she’d left and a new scar traced from behind her right ear to her neck where it disappeared into her tunic. She looked happy and completely at ease.

“And your birthday too! Since you never told us when it was, we decided this would be the most suitable as you’d only have to suffer through one celebration a year instead of two,” Nina interjected. She then grabbed his arm and dragged him away from Inej and towards the back of the room. There, reclining on a couch and fiddling with what seemed to be a bomb, was Kuwei. He lifted a hand lazily in greeting. “Nina made me do it, don’t blame me.”

Kaz allowed himself one moment of relief before turning to Nina. “If you do this again, I will personally pay a visit to Nikolai and have you exiled from Ravka.”

She made a noncommittal noise of agreement, then pushed a drink into Kaz’s hand. “Come on, Brekker. Cheer up, it’s a party!”

* * *

The party started winding down in the early hours of the morning and Kaz finally escaped to the roof of the Slat. He breathed in the cool air gratefully. He had to admit, the party had been pretty fun. At least until the point where Jesper had gotten too drunk and other Dregs had challenged him to make progressively difficult shots with his revolvers that he probably shouldn’t have attempted even if he was sober.

There was a slight scuff behind him, the noise Inej tries to make so he wouldn’t be startled if she snuck up on him. He felt her sit down next to him and let her tug one of his gloves off so she could twine their fingers together. The contact sent a shudder through him, but he still missed her touch after nearly a month of being apart.

They sat in comfortable silence, watching the clouds begin to glow as dawn broke. “Did you like the surprise? I planned it, but we can have another celebration on your actual birthday.”

“Today is close enough. Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Kaz.”

The sun broke through the clouds.


	14. Role-Swap AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "If you are still taking prompts I would love to see Kaz and Inej but their roles reversed. Like, Their backstories still basically the same but Inej becomes the ruthless mob boss who can’t stand touch because of her trafficking past and Kaz the sweet farm boy (who is light on his feet in order to corral and sooth the chickens he once had) who spits out country slang instead of Suli proverbs."

Pt. 1: Inej

  * She’s still sold to the Menagerie at a young age, but there is no Kaz Brekker to get her out
  * When she turns 12, she attempts to escape for the first time
  * She barely makes it to the harbor before the guards catch her and drag her back to Tante Heleen
  * Heleen was not in a good mood that day and she’d had enough with the Suli girl
  * She sneers and turns away from her
  * “Break her leg. That’ll teach her.”
  * Inej tries to run, to fight, but they stuff a gag in her mouth and shatter her right leg just below the knee
  * Inej spends a month in bed recuperating
  * It’s then when she decides that even her Saints had forsaken her
  * She grows angry and spiteful, vowing vengeance on everyone who had crossed her path
  * After her leg has more or less healed, she can walk, but with a heavy limp. She’ll never be able to do acrobatics or walk a tightrope again
  * She wants to scream, to murder the people who did this to her, but she learns how to hide her feelings behind a perfect mask
  * And every time she has to serve a client, she shuts off and retreats to a place in her mind where she’s building a plan to kill her enemies and escape Ketterdam once and for all
  * And one day, she just snaps. A client is a little too rough with her, and before she realizes what she’s doing, she’s seized a water pitcher from the nightstand and slammed it into the man’s head
  * He’s not moving when she grabs the knife at his belt and makes a break for it
  * She kills two more guards in the Menagerie’s lobby, then is sprinting toward the Harbor, knee aching and wind whistling through her hair
  * She doesn’t quite make it to a ship- a group of men, boys really, each with a crow and cup branded on their arm, yank her into an alleyway
  * They laugh and paw at her clothes. One of them slides a hand under her shirt and they stop laughing when she shoves the knife into his eye
  * They drag her back to the Crow Club for Per Haskell to mete out judgement
  * Instead, he’s impressed at her ruthlessness. He smooths things over with Heleen and grants Inej the position that was recently vacated by the Dreg she’d stabbed
  * Those of the Barrel soon learn to fear her and dub her “The Soulless,” as it’s rumored that there’s no job she wouldn’t do for the right price
  * She’s known for the gauzy silk scarves she always wears- a reminder of her time at the Meangerie and the rage that fuels her



Pt. 2: Kaz

  * Kaz still grows up on a farm with his father and Jordie
  * However, his father doesn’t die in a tragic accident
  * He sends his two sons to Ketterdam on a “summer program” at Ketterdam University
  * Surprise, turns out it was a scam and now Jordie and Kaz are stuck in Ketterdam with barely a cent to their name and no way to get home
  * They send a letter to their father asking for money, but unknown to them, the ship carrying their letter is sunk in a storm and they receive no reply
  * When they run low on funds, Jordie is forced to get a job- it’s honest work, running errands for a mercher, but pays next to nothing
  * Kaz and Jordie are constantly sick and hungry
  * One day, Jordie is mugged on the way home, everything of value stolen from his person
  * Kaz, sick of waiting around for his very late brother, heads out to look for him
  * He finds him dead in an alley, bled out from a knife wound. The symbol of the Dime Lions is carved into the knife handle
  * The meager funeral drains the rest of their savings and Kaz is left to fend for himself
  * He swears vengeance on whoever killed his brother and learns how to pickpocket, to steal, to survive
  * When the plague strikes, Kaz is unlucky and gets sick. He’s sent to the Reaper’s Barge while still alive and claws his way back to shore, traumatizing him for life
  * He meets Inej after he pickpockets her and she doesn’t notice for almost two blocks. Needless to say, she offered him a job on the spot.
  * She held out a hand. “What’s your name?”
  * Kaz wraps a gloved hand around hers. “Kaz Rietveld.”



Pt. 3: Kanej

  * Kaz always dresses according to Inej, “like you’re about to go to a church service after a hearty breakfast with the family.” Usually a button down shirt tucked into slacks
  * Inej, on the other hand, dresses much as she canonically does, with the addition of her silk scarf
  * She never uses a cane- she thinks it’s unnecessary and doesn’t add to her image
  * Kaz has a country accent that he never manages to get rid of
  * Inej gives Kaz his first knife. He always keeps it in the pocket closest to his heart
  * Kaz is the one who feeds the crows- his Da taught him to respect all animals after all
  * They talk about their parents a lot, especially about the future with them. Inej wants her family to keep believing she’s dead because she doesn’t want them to know what she’s become. Kaz wants nothing more than to see his Da again and bring Jordie’s body back to the farm for proper burial
  * After the whole jurda parem deal, they have a little vengeance week together- Inej burns down the Menagerie and Kaz tracks down the Dime Lions who killed his brother
  * Post Crooked Kingdom, Inej brings Kaz’s father to Ketterdam for him
  * Kaz ultimately decides to stay in Ketterdam and hopes to one day start a legitimate business that employs at risk children so they won’t be swindled like he was 
  * She has a redemption arc and starts tracking down slavers so that one day, she’ll feel worthy enough to reunite with her parents




	15. Competitive Comapnies AU pt. 2

  * Eventually, Matthias joins Dregs LLC after Kaz makes him a ridiculous offer he can’t resist
  * (Plus he gets to spend time with Nina who can blame him)
  * They get married in secret with just the two of them in a chateau outside of Paris (Kaz found out, of course, but he leaves them in peace)
  * Basically they go AWOL for a week and everyone in the company would have freaked out if it wasn’t for Kaz mysteriously telling them everything is fine
  * Inej, despite multiple lucrative offers from Kaz, never joins the Dregs
  * She feels that it would bias her reporting so she opts to remain a freelancer
  * So instead, Kaz helps her by steering her to companies he knows are corrupt (they might also be the Dregs’ competition, but who knows)
  * She and Wylan win a Pulitzer for a collaboration they did featuring refugees in the Middle East
  * They were off the grid for almost two months which drove Jesper insane
  * Kaz finally let him use company resources to track them down and make sure they were safe
  * Wylan was forever changed after that ordeal
  * (Inej too, though she tried harder to hide it)
  * Wylan would wake up in the middle of the night covered in sweat not knowing where he was
  * Inej disappears more and more often for long stretches of time, only reappearing when she felt like it
  * The rest of the Dregs are understandably concerned and surprisingly, it’s Matthias who approaches the both of them about it
  * He convinces them to get counseling for the things they saw
  * They both respond well to it
  * Wylan starts opening up to Jesper about his experiences
  * Inej only ever tells Kaz bits and pieces, the rest she writes on pages upon pages of loose leaf paper which she locks away in a drawer
  * She and Wylan collaborate many times after the first and Kaz bankrolls then with no hesitation and no strings attached




	16. Cold War AU pt.2

  * It’s a rainy December day when the Crows meet in Tirana, a week before a mass rally where Hoxha is scheduled to make an appearance is scheduled
  * They all look changed from a month under a dictatorship, but their skills haven’t gotten rusty
  * They set up shop in a storage room in the basement of the Palace of Culture in Skanderbeg Square where the rally will take place
  * Kaz had actually come up with a plan months in advance by studying maps and grainy photographs CIA spies had obtained. 
  * They rehearse nearly every hour they have until it is perfect, or at least up to Kaz’s standards
  * Kaz gives them their last day off
  * He knows there’s a very high chance that none of them will make it out of the country alive
  * Kaz takes Inej to go see a ballet at the National Theatre
  * They discreetly hold hands under Kaz’s coat the entire time and while Inej is watching the dancers, entranced, Kaz watches her and tries to memorize the color of her eyes, the curve of her lips
  * He suddenly regrets taking this job
  * Nina and Matthias decide to do something stupid because why not, they were probably going to die the next day
  * They sneak past guards into the Et’hem Bey Mosque. It’d been vacant for almost two decades, and the silence weighs heavily on them
  * They find a bench, sit, and stare up at the beautiful ceiling, Nina with her head on Matthias’ shoulder and neither saying a word
  * They’d gone through a lot together in the past month they’d spent undercover and this was the first time they felt at peace
  * When they notice the sun setting, they regretfully get ready to leave
  * Matthias pulls a small box out of his pocket
  * Nina doesn’t know what to think
  * “It’s not- This isn’t a proposal Nina. It’s a promise of one. When we get back, I’ll get down on one knee, break out the champagne and waffles, the whole nine yards.”
  * She says yes anyways and when they get back, Inej waggles her eyebrows at her friend’s new ring
  * Jesper takes Wylan on a picnic date on top of the clock tower
  * He’d managed to bribe several small business owners around the city and they had a nice spread of food that  _almost_ tasted American
  * From their spot, they could see across the whole square
  * Wylan is calculating escape routes and percentages in his head as they eat
  * It doesn’t look great and the more he tries to find a way out, the sicker he feels
  * He abruptly puts his sandwich down and pushes his chair away from the table
  * “We can’t do this. None of us will survive.”
  * He’s shaking and his fingernails are digging into his palms
  * Jesper quickly comes over and gives him a tight hug
  * “It’ll work out Wy. They don’t call me Lucky Fahey for no reason.”
  * Wylan snorts, but feels better. “No one calls you that, Jes.”
  * They come back hand in hand.
  * Kaz looks around at his circle of friends for what might very well be the last time. They go over the plan a final time
  * Inej, Jesper, and Matthias break off from the other Crows as they need to get into position under the cover of night
  * Kaz only gives Inej a warning to be careful before she slips away
  * Wylan clings to Jesper tightly before the taller boy gently detaches him
  * Nina and Matthias share a long kiss before he walks away without a backward glance
  * None of the six sleep well and before they knew it, dawn had broken on a day that could rewrite history




	17. Helnik Headcanons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "Could a headcanon be made about what romantic nina and Matthias do as nobody looks at? 😂😂"

  * In public, Matthias is okay with holding hands
  * But anything past that, he instantly gets very red and tells Nina to knock it off
  * Nina has a habit of putting a hand on his knee under the table and sliding it very  _very_ slowly up his thigh
  * Matthias  ~~loves~~  hates it
  * Wylan seems to always notice this and stares pointedly ahead at Kaz who was once again lecturing the Crows 
  * When he thinks no one is looking, Matthias likes giving Nina little neck kisses from behind
  * Then when she teases him, he instantly denies it happened
  * When the Crows complete a dangerous mission, Matthias always clings to Nina a little tighter
  * He pulls her to the back of the group and just hugs her from behind while they walk
  * He’s scared of letting go because he knows they can’t always defy the odds and some day, one of them isn’t going to make it
  * The rest of the Crows always give them a little space after missions and they’ve spent countless hours in their ship cabin just laying down, facing each other, holding hands and whispering, glad to be alive together.




	18. High School AU pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: a soc high school au pls

  * Kaz and Jesper have known each other since elementary school
  * Jesper was a transfer and he kind of just picked out Kaz to be his new best friend and Kaz never told him otherwise
  * They spend a lot of time together after school playing video games at Jesper’s house, Jesper still hasn’t figured out that Kaz reprogrammed his remote so he would win 9 times out of 10
  * Wylan is a grade below those two, but attends the same classes because he’s on an accelerated track. (Kaz could actually be doing accelerated work, too, but he preferred staying with Jesper)
  * He spends most of his lunches in the science lab conducting research for the five simultaneous projects he has happening
  * The teacher is so sick of missing his breaks that he just gives a copy of the science wing key to Wylan
  * Kaz hears about this and wants the key so he can use it to steal a copy of their chem final exam and sell it to students
  * He sends Jesper to find Wylan and the rest is history
  * Matthias and Nina met in middle school
  * Matthias transferred from some distant country and had a really thick accent which the other kids made fun of
  * Nina wasn’t having any of that and scared them off
  * In high school, she’s the leader of the Female Empowerment club that most of the female student body belongs to. Guys are also welcome and most meetings she drags Matthias to because she is tired of his somewhat regressive views
  * Inej is the star of the track and field team
  * She quite literally runs into Kaz when she’s trying to get to her English class on time
  * She takes him out for a coffee to apologize and they start talking and they both have a great time?
  * Kaz starts showing up at her track meets and they go out for lunch after
  * Nina teases her for kind of dating Kaz




	19. Kanej Headcanon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "so we know that kanej is probably pretty private with their relationship. but do you have any headcannons of little things they do in public to show they’re together?"

  * Kaz is terrifying by himself, but people know to be truly afraid when Kaz pays a visit to someone with Inej behind him
  * Because he makes it a little conversation between them and Inej is ruthless
  * “Inej dear, what did we do to the last mercher we caught selling children to one of the brothels?”
  * “I cut out his heart and tossed his body into the harbor.”
  * “Thank you, Inej dear.”
  * The actual definition of a power couple
  * They both get their Dregs tattoo modified a little
  * Kaz adds a little spider to the base of the cup
  * Inej has the stem of the cup altered to look more like a cane
  * Jesper is the first to notice  ~~and he wishes he thought of it first because it’s such a cute couples thing he would want to do with Wylan~~
  * When Inej is off sailing on The Wraith, Kaz always keeps berth 22 sparkling clean
  * Everyone knows better than to do their shady business there because Kaz treats it like holy ground
  * Kaz sets up lines of credit for Inej’s crew at most places in Ketterdam
  * Inej wears a simple gold ring and it’s the only ring she ever wears and it’s on her ring finger and her crew is always curious about it because she never mentions a significant other
  * Kaz wears his ring on a chain around his neck  ~~because he thinks his hands are too dirty for Inej~~




	20. High School AU pt.2

  * Jesper brings an uno deck to school for the sole purpose of being able to beat Kaz at a card game
  * Kaz ends up demolishing him in a highly spectated match and now the Dregs can be found everyday after school in an empty classroom playing intense games of uno
  * Inej sprains her ankle mid season sophomore year and uses crutches for a month
  * Kaz is always following her and helping carry her books and opening doors even though she tells him he’s fine
  * He eventually finds out that one of her teammates purposefully tripped her during a meet because they were jealous so he plants a bottle of vodka in her locker and gets her expelled
  * Wylan is a chemistry olympiad and all the Dregs attend his competitions
  * Jesper makes these huge posters and comes up with group cheers
  * Wylan always gets super red and flustered, but he never tells Jesper to stop
  * Nina and Matthias decide not to go to prom with the rest of their friends and instead go on a journey to find the best Waffle House in the city
  * Matthias thinks it’s the most fun they ever had and the next year the rest of the Dregs go with them




	21. High School AU pt.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "Would you be able to write something about each couple’s first kiss? (NinaXMathias, JesperXWylan, KazXInej)"

I feel like this has been explored in canon a lot so imma write this for my high school au?

Kanej:

  * It was Inej’s last track meet of junior year
  * Tensions were running high as it was rival school Dunyasha Lazareva’s senior year and she’d held the 500m sprint title for the last three years
  * Somehow, they seem to cross the finish line together and the race officials have to review the footage
  * Inej is waiting anxiously next to Kaz. She’s squeezing his hand tightly and biting her lip
  * He’s already mentally making a list of the officials whose lives he’ll have to ruin if the call isn’t made in Inej’s favor
  * When the call is made in Inej’s favor, she doesn’t know what to think
  * Her mind goes blank and before she knows it, she’s on her tiptoes and kissing Kaz
  * He doesn’t know what to do at first, but then he’s kissing her back and it’s like a scene from a teen movie, complete with Nina and Jesper heckling them in the background



Wesper:

  * Wylan and Jesper were having a study date at a coffee shop
  * They were studying chem
  * Or Wylan was studying chem while Jesper was studying him
  * Wylan had a little foam mustache from his hot chocolate and Jesper thought it was adorable
  * He reaches over and wipes it off with his thumb
  * Wylan goes red and sputters that they should focus on chemistry
  * Jesper responds with some smooth af line about how they should focus on the chemistry between them
  * Wylan is stuck between wanting to laugh hysterically or kissing Jesper
  * Jesper saves him by asking him if it’s okay to kiss him
  * And they share their first kiss in that cozy little corner of the coffee shop
  * BONUS: Wylan leans forward a little too much and he knocks his drink over onto Jesper’s lime green coat
  * He keeps apologizing but Jesper says it’s fine
  * Dry cleaning never really manages to get the stain out, but he keeps it hanging in his room as the “first-kiss coat”



Helnik:

  * Matthias’ parents dies when he was young but they left him with an old cherry-red Mercury Cougar
  * Nina loves it when Matthias gives her rides in it because it “matches her aesthetic”
  * A common sight is Nina with her feet up on the dashboard, sunglasses on with a red lollipop in her mouth and hair streaming behind her while Matthias is trying to concentrate on the road
  * Their first kiss was an accident
  * They’d been “together” for a while already and Matthias was giving her a ride home as usual
  * Nina moved to give him his thank-you kiss on the cheek like she did every time, but he accidentally turned and their lips touched instead
  * They froze for a while, still kissing
  * Until Nina pulled away, already apologizing because she knew Matthias liked taking things slow
  * But he pulls her in for another kiss and another until his lips taste like sweet candy and cherry chapstick too




	22. Wesper Drabble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "umm wesper or nina/matthias (what's their ship name lol???) and 32!"
> 
> ["I think I'm in love with you and i'm terrified."]

Jesper didn’t know what to expect as Wylan reached into his leather bag. Maybe a gun. Maybe a smoking bomb. But certainly not a tiny glass vial no longer than his thumb. Maybe they were going to die here after all. He poked his head around the corner of the alley and took two quick shots at their pursuers. 

“How’s that going to save us Wy? In case you haven’t noticed, there’s twenty very ugly and very scary men chasing us,” he demanded. He didn’t want to die yet, Nina still owed him a hundred kruge from their waffle trip. 

“Still have no faith in me,” Wylan grumbled. “Shoot this above them.” He stepped out from behind Jesper and chucked the vial into the air. Jesper carefully tracked the sun’s glint off the glass, then squeezed off two quick shots. Instantly, a cloud of pale gas erupted, blocking the men from their view. Then the screaming started.

Jesper watched, morbidly fascinated. “What was that?”

“You don’t want to know,” Wylan muttered as he started dragging Jesper away.

“I think I love you and I’m slightly terrified.”

“You better be.” 


	23. Kanej Drabble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "7 or 32 for kanej from your drabble prompts post please!"
> 
> ["I almost lost you"]

“Kaz! Kaz!” Inej shouted frantically. She couldn’t spot his trademark tailored coat anywhere in the bustle of the Suli carnival. People jostled her without apologizing and she quickly moved to the side to get out of the crowd. The view from the fringe wasn’t much better and she ached to have something solid to scale and obtain a better vantage point.  

A moment later, she caught a glimpse of his cane and polished shoes, so out of place in the merry carnival-goers. She plunged into the crowd again and this time was able to emerge at Kaz’s side. “Don’t do that again. I almost lost you.”

Kaz had the decency to look a little ashamed. He held out a small crown of bright red flowers. “Sorry. I just saw someone selling these and they reminded me of a story you told me before.”

Inej took it from him and set it on her head. “It’s beautiful, Kaz. Thank you. You don’t speak Ravkan or Suli though, how did your transaction work?”

Kaz cleared his throat and looked away. “I just…put coins into his palm until he nodded.”

Inej giggled and took his hand. He stiffened, but didn’t pull away. “You were probably ripped off. Let’s go see the acrobats.”

He let her pull him along.


	24. Kanej Drabble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "For the procrastination material can you do #20 with Kanej pleeeeease they give me life and I live for angst"
> 
> ["You need to wake up because I can't do this without you."]

“Inej.”

The girl groaned, but didn’t stir.

“Inej. You need to wake up. I can’t do this without you.”

“Do what?” she asked quietly. He was suddenly looking into drowsy brown eyes. He found himself not wanting to tell her the truth. He averted his gaze.

“The…cats got out of the house and ruined the garden again.” The last part came out in a rush. Inej sighed and pushed herself up from the bed. Kaz watched as she drew her dressing gown around her shoulders.

“I told you to check the door flap last night.” 

They headed downstairs together. Kaz started making coffee while Inej started breakfast. 

“I have a meeting with Wylan in an hour, but after I come back, I’ll help with the garden,” Kaz promised.

“You better, Kaz Brekker.”


	25. Mr. Sunshine AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I will NEVER be over this show

  * Ketterdam was annexed by Ravka about twenty years ago, around the time of Kaz’s birth
  * Jan van Eck was appointed as the Prime Minister by the Ravkan king, but everyone knows he’s just a figurehead
  * The Kerch chafe under Ravkan rule, but there is no open revolt. Under the surface however, the Resistence is brewing…
  * Inej Ghafa is a leader of the Army of Liberation. She was sold to a Ravkan sympathizer when she was young, but the AoL saved her and she felt indebted. She wants to free Kerch from Ravkan rule so the slave trade will once again be abolished.
  * Jesper Fahey is another member of the AoL. A Zemeni native, he has experienced Ravkan colonization first-hand. His mother was part of the Zemeni Liberation Front, but she was caught and executed after trying to smuggle children out of the country. Jesper and his father fled to Kerch under assumed identities for safety. 
  * Nina Zenik is a Ravkan defector eking out a living by running a brothel/inn in the red-light district of Ketterdam. Her grisha powers are highly sought after as Ravka drafted most Kerch grisha into the Second Army. She wishes for Ravka to return to a time before the imperialist and power-hungry king.
  * Wylan van Eck is the sheltered son of Jan van Eck. Though he will never be his father’s heir, Jan cannot get rid of him without Ravkan scrutiny. Wylan cannot see through the lies and propaganda he is surrounded by. Multiple resistance organizations are trying to groom him as one of their own so they can have eyes and ears inside on the van Eck mansion.
  * Matthias Helvar is a Fjerdan mercenary with nowhere to go. He helped Ravka annex Ketterdam and now deeply regrets it. He spends his days in the slums of Ketterdam, drinking to forget. He finds no meaning or purpose in life.
  * Kaz Brekker was a powerful gang leader before the Ravkan occupation, and continues to be one- he just greases different hands and steals from the people he once paid off. It’s a tidy life and he’s determined to wait this whole mess out because if there’s one thing that will never change, it’s that money means power.  
  * Eventually, the paths of these six will intertwine and tangle until they are comrades under the same flag…




	26. Kanej Drabble (HS AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr ask: "21 kaz and Inej"
> 
> [“You knocked on my door, at 1 in the morning, to cuddle?”]

“You knocked on my door, at 1 in the morning, to cuddle?” 

Inej nodded with a drowsy smile on her face as she leaned against his doorframe. Her clothes and hair were a mess and she’d obviously been drinking with the rest of the track team to celebrate their victory at the meet earlier that day. Kaz sighed and stepped aside. Inej stumbled in and flopped into his hotel bed. 

“You can’t stay the night, okay? We don’t need people gossiping.”

“People already do,” she slurred. She motioned for him to join her. He shut the door and climbed into his bed. He knew he didn’t have the willpower to make her go back to her own room. She snuggled in closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. 

“Inej?”

There was no response. Kaz looked down and the girl was already asleep. He pulled the sheets up around them and made sure Inej was in a comfortable position. He had to admit, he could get used to this.


	27. Kanej AU Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Ask: "Accidental magic and confession for kanej please babe ❤️"

They’re running a job together and someone messed up because they’re being chased through the streets of Ketterdam. Inej could probably outrun them, but not Kaz, not with his bad leg. Their pursuers are gaining on them, they’re being shot at. Inej hears Kaz give a bark of pain as a bullet grazes him and something inside of her  _twists_. Without knowing what she’s doing, she presses her palms together and slashes. The world goes black for a second, then all is silent. Kaz and Inej stop running and they see what Inej had done- the Cut had left deep grooves in the surrounding brick walls which were now also splattered with their pursuers’ blood and insides. Inej stared at her hands, still wreathed in small scraps of shadows. She couldn’t be a shadow summoner- the same power that killed her Sankta Alina. She falls to her knees in anguish and the shadows respond, drawing themselves around her until she’s hidden from Kaz’s sight. He spends hours in that alley, trying to talk to her and get her to go back to the Slat with him. He sits next to where he thinks she is and tells her about his past life, his brother, everything. He bares his soul to her. Then he tells her that he loves her, no matter what she has done and what she can do. Slowly, bit by bit, the shadows peel away until his Inej is back, eyes terrified and her whole body trembling. He takes off a glove and carefully holds one of her hands. Eventually, she calms down enough for them to go back to the Slat. Inej eventually learns how to control her powers and use them to her advantage. But she never uses it to kill again. 


	28. Wesper Drabble (HS AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr ask: "I saw your new ask post!! How about no. 4 - Wylan and Jesper, “is that my shirt?”"

“Is that my shirt?” Wylan asked incredulously. He thought he recognized the NASA logo on the front.

Jesper shrugged and did a turn. “I needed a crop top and your shirt happened to be the right size. You like it?”

Wylan blushed. “It’s cute,” he muttered. 


	29. Kanej Drabble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr ask: "Could you do 24 kanej!!!! I Love these so much!!!"
> 
> ["You're the only one I can trust to do this"]

“Kaz, don’t be stupid, call for a medik,” Inej urged in a low voice. Kaz shifted and another groan escaped. The hand he had clamped to his side was already sticky with blood.

To Inej’s frustration, he shook his head. “No. No mediks. You’re the only one I can trust to do this.”

“If you bleed out, don’t blame me.” Inej reached for the washcloth and dipped it into the basin of water. Carefully, she wiped away the blood from Kaz’s pale skin. A glance at his pained face made her stomach flip. Kaz shouldn’t look like this. His face was built to always have an arrogant smirk, or a brooding stare, or a scheming face. Not something as human as pain.

“I won’t.”

“You won’t bleed out, or you won’t blame me?” Inej reaches for the bandages and started dressing the wound, making sure not to touch his skin with her bare fingers.

A smile ghosted across his face. “Take your pick.”


	30. Wesper Drabble (College AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "I can't decide between #2 (I know it's 3 in the morning but I can't find my cat) or #17 (ignore me, I didn't see anything) so dealer's choice! for wesper!"
> 
> ["I know it's 3 in the morning but I can't find my cat"]

Jesper woke to loud pounding on his door. His first thought was that the frat boys down the street had finally figured out who’d stolen their pop tarts. He cursed as he hopped around his room trying to pull on pants and a shirt at the same time. The bed on the other side of the room was empty- Kaz was probably staying at Inej’s tonight, after her big track win.

He finally yanked the t-shirt over his head and he grabbed the baseball bat the leaned against the wall before opening the door a crack. “Can I help you?”

“I know it’s 3 in the morning, but I can’t find my cat,” a nervous voice stammered. Jesper looked down and found Wylan, the adorable redhead from his chemistry class. “I thought you could…” 

His voice trailed off. Jesper followed his gaze down and finally saw what he’d pulled on in the dark. A bright yellow shirt he was pretty sure he hadn’t worn since high school with a fuzzy Spongebob decal right in the middle with a pair of lime green silk pajama bottoms he’d bought on a dare. Great first impression. He wanted to dig himself a grave.

“Um is it a bad time? I can ask campus security to help me, don’t trouble-”

“No!” Jesper winced at how loud his voice was. He tried to inject some of his usual suaveness back into it. “I’ll help. Where’s the last place you saw…”

“Plumje. He was napping in my dorm’s garden, but when I got back from my shift, he was gone and now I can’t find him what if he’s lost or hurt or-”

“Woah, woah, woah, calm down,” Jesper soothed. He put a hand on Wylan’s shoulder and gently guided him inside. “I’ll make you some tea. Calm down, and then we can start looking for him.”

After three cups of tea, they embarked on a search that ended up with Jesper trying to climb a tree at the crack of dawn. The offending creature, Plumje, had somehow gotten stuck on the top branch and mewled pitifully as Jesper tried not to rip his very expensive pants. 

“Come on, you stupid cat,” he muttered as he scaled another branch. “Help me look good in front of Wylan.”

He stretched out an arm and just barely brushed the branch the cat was stuck on. Not needing another invitation, the cat latched onto his arm. Good for the cat, bad for his balance. A string of vulgar phrases flew out of his mouth as he windmilled frantically, trying to not fall to his death. A particularly loud expletive was shouted as he lost his balance and fell. Thankfully, he was able to grab a branch on the way down. Pine needles scratched at his exposed skin and there was an uncomfortable tug on the waistband of his pants. But somehow, Plumje was still there, purring at him as if he didn’t just almost die.

“Nice boxers, Jes!” a familiar voice shouted. Jesper closed his eyes and considered letting himself fall to his death. When he opened them, he could see Kaz with the biggest smirk on his face. Beside him, Inej had her phone out, no doubt documenting Jesper’s humiliation. Wylan looked scandalized and was gazing at the ground. 

“Can y’all help me? Or should I just die?”

“You might want to after I send this to Nina,” Inej replied evenly as if she didn’t hold Jesper’s fate in her hands. 

“Ineeeeejj for the love of all that’s holy please help me.”

“Mhm. Hang on a sec.”

Some gravity defying acrobatics later, Jesper was safely on the ground with Plumje in his arms. Inej and Kaz went off in search of breakfast. Wylan’s cheeks reddened as Jesper handed the cat back to him.

“Thanks. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Jesper winked. “My pleasure. Though next time please give me more of a warning so I can wear something more appropriate for adventuring.”

He looked mournfully at his pants, now ripped and stained in several places. Perhaps it was for the greater good.


	31. Kanej Soulmate AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "Six of Crows Soulmate AU?"
> 
> This uses my personal soulmate au.

My soulmate au:

Where it’s not your soulmate’s first words to you tattooed on your skin, but the  _last_  words they’ll ever tell you

  * People settling down with those they think are The One, but never being sure
  * Organic relationships where both people are tentative until the day where they hear those words from the other and it’s too late
  * People having a happy life with their significant other who they believe is their soulmate until someone greets them with the words inked on their wrist. They make the conscious choice to walk away and ignore their destined partner
  * People who have generic phrases like “see you soon” or “i love you” living their lives in fear and cherishing every moment they have with their significant other
  * People not realizing their partner just said Those Words until it’s too late and they’re running out the door. Sometimes it’s just a false alarm, but sometimes they’re already gone
  * People whose significant other leaves them but not with Those Words so they spend the rest of their life hoping they’ll come back
  * Conversely, people whose significant other passes away but without saying Those Words so they know have another person they can look forward to in their life
  * Some people choose to hide their tattoo from their significant other so they don’t have to be scared
  * Tattoo artists always helping people who want to cover up their tattoos after they’ve heard The Words and lost their soulmate
  * But until The Words are said, they can’t be removed or covered up with another tattoo. When someone tries to cover it up, the new ink around it just fades within a couple of days.



 

Kanej:

  * Inej was born with words in a foreign language scrawled on her wrist
  * No one in her family knew how to read Kerch so it was always a mystery growing up
  * She imagined herself as a pirate when she grew up and meeting a handsome Kerch boy who would join her on her travels around the world
  * But then she’s captured and sent to the Menagerie
  * There, the girls are forced to cover their soulmate tattoo with the peacock feather week after week because clients don’t like being reminded those girls aren’t their own
  * Every week, Inej dreads when the once-beautiful words on her wrist start to show up again because it means she’ll need to spend another two hours in a chair under a needle to get it covered up again
  * She never sees the full sentence- it’s always covered up again before the all the words are uncovered and after the Menagerie, it brings too much pain to her to look at the curling script
  * But she does remember one word, the word that’s always showed up first from under the peacock feather-  _wraith_.
  * Kaz’s words were in Suli and when he was little, he dreamed of attending a big travelling circus in Ketterdam and looking up and locking eyes with an acrobat and he would just  _know_
  * But then he becomes Dirtyhands and starts wearing his leather gloves, partly to cover up his tattoo that used to offer him so much hope
  * It’s not until he meets Inej that he starts to hope again, that maybe he won’t always be lonely in such a cruel world
  * They never ask to look at each other’s tattoos
  * They’re almost certain that they’re meant for each other in some way and in their line of work, they don’t need the distraction of constantly waiting for those last words




	32. Arts School AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "if you havent done so already, i'd really love a music/art school au for the murder children <333"

  * Ketterdam School of the Arts, aka KSotA
  * Kaz is in the orchestra division, Matthias is in band, Wylan is a double major in band/visual art, Nina is in voice, Jesper is in drama, and Inej is in stage crew
  * This year, the school is putting on Little Shop of Horrors
  * Nina gets the role of Audrey, Jesper plays Seymour
  * Wylan is helping with designing/painting the set, but he always gets distracted by Jesper rehearsing onstage
  * Inej is always flitting around fixing lights and such and people are terrified because you’ll never know where she’ll pop up
  * Once she appeared behind Jesper while he was rehearsing Grow for Me and he screamed and almost tripped into the orchestra pit. Kaz still has a video of it filmed from the pit
  * Speaking of the orchestra pit- Kaz is concertmaster, Matthias plays cello, and Wylan plays flute
  * Kaz and Matthias are constantly giving each other looks and sarcastic comments as they sit across from each other
  * Wylan is just trying his best to play his solos and not die laughing during Mushnik and Son
  * Nina loves singing Somewhere That’s Green to Matthias because it always makes him blush
  * As the show approaches, Jesper and Nina just stay in character for practice and laughs- Nina keeps talking in a thick Brooklyn accent and Jesper acts like he’s head over heels for her
  * Everyone thinks it’s hilarious
  * Once Jesper serenaded Nina with Suddenly Seymour in the middle of lunch
  * On Opening Night, it’s tradition to dress as your character for the school day if you’re an actor and black tie for orchestra/crew
  * So Kaz is dressed in a full tux while Inej is on his arm in an elegant black dress and they are a Power Couple
  * Nina’s wearing a tight leopard print dress and her hair is teased up. Matthias went for the bare minimum and is wearing a suit jacket over dark jeans
  * Jesper is…interesting. He found a greaser’s-style leather jacket and a mullet wig. High waisted jeans and sneakers. It’s kind of a mess but he makes it look good. Wylan is wearing his interview suit.
  * They all have dinner together at a nearby waffle house, and call time approaches way too quickly
  * The orchestra tunes, the lights dim, then it’s showtime
  * It goes off without a hitch, and the show’s week-long run is just as successful
  * During strike, Nina and Jesper keep trying to steal costumes and props they’d gotten attached to- They only manage to steal a Baby Audrey II and a fake machete though




	33. Shadow and Bone Teaser

Light piano melody, something that starts as a simple one-note pattern.

Black screen. A small pulse of light in the middle, revealing a child’s hands, wrapped around a shard of pottery.

“Nothing but a dirty orphan. I should have left her to beg on the streets,” a voice says sharply as the screen fades back to black.

The melody gets a little faster with occasional chords.

Bigger pulse of light, revealing hands busy drafting a map.

“A common soldier. Expendable,” a male voice sneers as the screen fades to black.

The music reaches a lull, but builds.

Big pulse of light, almost filling the screen. Hands are clasped daintily in front of a black and gold kefta.

“The Darkling’s newest toy,” a voice says scornfully as it fades to black.

Crescendo, the music is a wild, twisting thing now. 

Suddenly the black screen quickly fills with light to reveal her hands held out before her, light bouncing off her fingers.

“I am the Sun Summoner. It gets dark when I say it does,” she declares imperiously. She claps her hands together and slashes. The screen goes white. The title, Shadow and Bone, gathers itself from wisps of shadows


	34. Competitive Companies AU Drabble

“And this one. It has a nice summery feel, don’t you think?” Nina hummed as she posed in a bright and flowery hat for Matthias. He tried not to scowl.

“It looks very similar to the first oversized and overpriced hat, Miss Zenik.”

“Boo,” she said with a childish pout. To his dismay, she placed the hat into the already considerable “buy” pile. The boutique they were at was hardly cheap and he honestly hoped the company card Kaz had shoved into his hands would be able to support Nina’s extravagant tastes. 

“Buy these for me and get them wrapped. I’m moving on to the shoe store.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Miss Zenik-”

She brushed a kiss on his cheek and flounced out of the store, leaving behind the scent of roses and sugar in her wake. He sighed and handed the waiting clerk a black credit card. Another clerk started packaging the hats and gloves Nina had left strewn around. Matthias fiddled with his tie, regretting wearing it in the sweltering heat. No one told him Paris would be hot and he’d only packed suits for their week-long trip. 

A squeal of tires interrupted his woes. He whipped his head around and saw a black van fly past in the same direction that Nina had headed off to. Cursing, he sprinted out of the shop, a hand already at the hidden weapon inside his jacket.

The street was deserted with no trace as to where either Nina or the black van had went. Matthias felt a rising surge in panic as he craned his head this way and that as he jogged down the street. His training told him the next thing to do would be to call his employer, but he didn’t want to contact Kaz just yet. He valued his life, after all.

Suddenly, a figure stepped out of an alley he was passing and he almost knocked them over. He muttered an apology and tried to keep moving, but a familiar voice full of amusement stopped him. 

“What’s the hurry for, Matthias? Is there a sale at the waffle house I don’t know about?” Nina teased. Not a hair was out of place and her dress was still wrinkle-free. The only sign of something being wrong was an ugly bruise along her cheekbone. She noticed his gaze. 

“Don’t worry about it. I took care of them. We might need to call Kaz though, to sweep this mess under the rug.”

“But-”

She burst out laughing at his flabergasted expression. “I can handle myself, Matthias. You’re just here to convince everyone else otherwise.”

“Miss Zenik…you’re terrifying. In the best way.”

She looped his arm through his. “Of course. As it should be.”


	35. High School AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lost the ask for this one, but it's another one for my 1500 followers celebration

“Money, money, money, must be fun- shit!” Nina screeched as she attempted to jump from a set piece onto the stage, but tripped and fell instead. Inej giggled quietly as she saw the reason why- Nina’s shoelaces had been tied together again. From where he was waiting in the wings for his cue, Jesper winked at her. 

Onstage, Nina had picked herself up and there was a dramatic scowl on her face. “Whoever keeps tying my shoelaces together, you’ll get what’s coming to you,” she threatened with a meaningful look around the theater. As expected, no one confessed and they had no choice but to continue rehearsal.

After they called it a day, Nina and Inej went to their favorite waffle house for dinner. Nina had a notebook out and was scribbling furiously with a sparkly red gel pen.

“It can’t be Ehri. That little goody-two shoes is always stuck in the orchestra pit anyways. Nikolai would never. Or would he? Ooh I’m going to get Zoya to chew him out. Kaz? I can’t see it, but he definitely has that diabolical vibe-”

“Nina, slow down,” Inej chided as she laughed. She’d probably end up telling Nina who the real culprit was eventually, but seeing her friend this worked up about something was amusing. 

“My mind is going so fast right now, I can’t slow down! Next suspect is Wylan. Can’t be him, he’s way too innocent. Also stuck in the orchestra pit too. David? But he’s never around during rehearsal. Inej, I’m stuck,” Nina whined. She cut another piece of waffle for herself.

“Think about who’s backstage with you before Money, Money,” Inej suggested.

Nina chewed and thought for a moment, then her eyes widened. “Of course! Why couldn’t I see it before?”

Inej laughed again. “What are you going to do to him?”

“No kissing for a week,” Nina declared. She started hurriedly shoving her things back inside her backpack. “I’m going back to school to find him for my ride home, see you!”

Inej sat there, confused, as Nina bustled out. Jesper and Nina weren’t- She bolted upright and ran out after Nina. “Nina, it’s not Matthias!”


	36. Kanej Hospital + Circus AU Brainstorm

 

Inej is an acrobat for the circus while Kaz is an escape artist. One day, they’re walking around the circus after their performance and enjoying the food, sights, etc. Some of the visitors recognize them from the show and get kind of handsy, especially with Inej. Neither of them like being touched,  so they rough and soon enough there’s a pile of people who need to go to the hospital because of them. tbh they probably need to go bc Kaz hurt his hand and he needs it at 100% for the show the next night. So Nikolai, the ringmaster send them to the hospital and Kanej just shares a soft moment together in a hospital room.


	37. Dark Academia AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ask: "Hey love, how are you feeling about Prep School au for the crows??? -dregstrash"

  * Ketterdam Academy, a place where rich parents send their problem children
  * Kaz is the adopted son of some businessman who doesn’t know how to father anyone other than throwing money at them- he’s sent to the Academy as part of a plea deal after he’s slapped with a manslaughter charge
  * Inej is the protege of a crime family specializing in thievery- usually of the priceless jewel type. She insisted on getting an education and the price tag attracted her family
  * Nina’s parents were distant, leaving her to pull bigger and bigger schemes to get their attention- she’s somewhat of a kleptomaniac and her classmates learn to keep a hand on their valuables around her
  * Matthias is the son of some bigshot military general. His options were either boot camp or the pretentious prep school in the middle of the mountains, and he hated military rations, so the choice was obvious
  * Jesper is a scholarship student with a gambling problem. It doesn’t help that his classmates tend to gamble with thousands of dollars rather than tens. He’s in debt to some of the meanest kids and they’re looking to collect
  * Wylan’s father is some kind of mob boss who wants his son as far away as possible. He tends to stick to the fringes of the school, but several students have their eyes on him…
  * Inej and Nina were the first to become friends- Inej was wearing a pearl and diamond ring that looked suspiciously like one that had gone missing from Buckingham Palace several years ago and Nina wanted a closer look. She’d almost gotten the ring completely off Inej’s finger before Inej had a sharp letter opener at her throat. They somehow bonded after that and are now inseparable
  * Jesper notices Wylan during a game of poker. Someone had pulled the younger boy into the game and Jesper sees his eyes moving around a little too much and his fingers tapping the table as if to keep count- Jesper folds and hauls Wylan outside. Apparently Wylan didn’t know counting cards was an offense that could lead to maiming from the card sharks
  * All the Dregs unite when a series of murders rock the school. It’s not unusual for a suspicious death or two every year, but not ones as grisly and similar as these. Students were being tortured, then their throats were slashed and their bodies strung up at the edge of the woods for unfortunate passerby to find
  * Kaz was already trying to figure out who it was, then realized he could easily outwit the killer
  * He recruits the rest of the Dregs for his scheme
  * Wylan acts as bait, skulking around deserted corridors each night while Inej trails him descreetly
  * Matthias and Nina are busy surveilling the woods, marking footprints and other interesting features
  * Jesper is perched on the roof with several guns supplied by Matthias, waiting for the right chance
  * Several sleepless nights go by with no luck, until finally, someone grabs Wylan from the corridor
  * Inej flashes a small mirror towards the roof and Jesper is instantly alert, following the assailments movements in the forest through his scope
  * Thankfully, before anything could happen to Wylan, Kaz and Inej burst through the door of the shed and catch one of the teachers red handed
  * With all the proof they’ve gathered, they send the teacher behind bars for life
  * And the Dregs are left to their own lives again, their standard of normal being black market alcohol, stolen jewels, and illicit poker games




	38. TV Scene Prompt: Inej

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "For the tv show scene thing: that scene in the second chapter of SoC when Kaz is grandstanding to buy Inej time to take out the other guard. It’s one of my favorite Kaz scenes in the entire duology."
> 
> So basically I'm imagining how this scene will look like in the tv show :)

I think this scene would be best if it just repeatedly cuts between Kaz and Inej. There should be some jaws-esque music in the background where the beats start out really slow, but then get faster and faster. With each beat, it cuts between Kaz and Inej.

Kaz and Geels exchanging tense words.

Inej scaling a roof.

Kaz smirking, telling Geels to shoot.

Inej crawling across the slick roof.

Gunshot goes off, Big Bolliger falls behind Kaz, but his gaze remains straight ahead, the smirk never leaving his face

Inej, hand on her knife, scanning the rooftops. 

Kaz telling Geels his bribes are worthless, another gunshot.

Inej tracks the gunshot, takes off running.

Kaz smiling, an almost maniacal gleam in his eye as he tells Geels to order the other guard to shoot him

Inej sees the rifle being raised and as she slides down, knife in hand, her shot keeps flickering to Kaz’s perspective, his hand tightening on his cane

The knife touches the guard’s throat and the only sound left is Inej’s hard breathing. 

The corner of Kaz’s mouth twitches up.


	39. More Inej/Matthias Platonic Headcanons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I would sell you my soul for even the possibility of more Inej and Matthias platonic headcanons"

  * After teaching Matthias basic acrobatics, Inej teaches Matthias how to throw knives
  * However, he’s not great at it and after a near catastrophe involving Sankt Petyr, hot coffee, and Jesper’s eyebrows, they mutually agree to stop the lessons
  * In return, Matthias teaches her how to use a rifle, even though she initially considers it a “barbaric” weapon
  * In the evenings, it’s not uncommon to see them both by the fireplace, curled up in their own armchairs and reading silently, just enjoying each other’s company
  * Nina once walked into one of these reading sessions and tried her hardest to tiptoe out because they seemed so cozy


  * Also, more than once, Inej has used Matthias as a springboard during fights (think the wonder woman shield scene)
  * She just yells “boost!” really loudly and without hesitation, Matthias will drop whatever he’s holding and make her a handhold with his hands
  * It’s  ~~mildly~~  very terrifying because with his added spring force, she can maybe go 10 feet high




	40. Hogwarts AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Can you do a Six of Crows Hogwarts AU prompt? I’m trying to write a story for it, but can’t quite find a way to start. I’d probably die for this story, it’s killing my because I can find a way to get it done!!! 😩"

  * Kaz and Inej are both in Slytherin, Nina, Jesper, and Kuwei are in Gryffindor, Wylan’s in Ravenclaw, and Matthias is in Hufflepuff
  * Matthias is the best Quidditch player out of them, he’s a beater for his house team. 
  * He transferred in from Durmstrang during their third year due to some kind of hazing incident
  * The other students in his house don’t really know how they feel about him at first, but then Nina takes him under her wing
  * Nina’s part mermaid, so she gets what it feels like to be treated differently
  * In her spare time, she TAs for the charms professor partly because she’s sort of a prodigy, and partly because the younger students love her
  * Wylan is a potions genius 
  * He makes a tidy profit around every exam date as the entire grade is dependent on his Invigoration Draught
  * Jesper, on the other hand, is kind of a jack of all trades, master of none
  * He’s pretty good at dueling and defense against dark arts, and just about anything the professors can throw at him
  * He’s always wearing the most ridiculous outfits under his robes
  * Inej is Slytherin’s seeker, known for her impossibly tight maneuvers that more often than not, led to a Slytherin victory
  * Since Slytherin doesn’t have a spare seeker, she has to spend a lot of time at practice and Kaz kind of gets jealous of how much time Nikolai gets to spend with her
  * Kaz is the school’s source of anything you can think of- student secrets, muggle candy, illegal potion ingredients, you name it, he can get it
  * He really plays up the whole cripple act to get other students to underestimate him, but he’s secretly one of the best defense against the dark arts students
  * One time, a beater from the gryffindor team knocked Inej off her broom illegally. Even though Inej wasn’t seriously hurt, the beater mysteriously ended up in the infirmary that night




	41. More Hogwarts AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Helllooo, I just read your hogwarts au and I love it . Do you think you could elaborate on jealous Kaz for that au?? Thank you"

  * Inej always seemed to be at quidditch practice
  * When Kaz wanted to study potions with her, she had to practice a new formation with the team
  * When he wanted to sneak out to Hogsmeade, she had to go over strategy in the common room
  * And even when it’s the middle of the night and he wanted to share some stolen sweets with her, she’s away at top secret night flying practice
  * He comes to a conclusion: Nikolai Lantsov, the golden boy, is hogging Inej and preventing Kaz from spending any time with her
  * Internally, he knows Nikolai and Inej’s relationship isn’t like  _that_
  * Especially because Nikolai would never cheat on Zoya because he loved her very much but also because she would hex him oblivion if such a thing happened
  * But he can’t help the strange twisting in his stomach when he sees them laughing together when he watches quidditch practice, or the way Inej sometimes looks at Nikolai with an idolizing look in her eyes




	42. Hogwarts AU: Favorite Classes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "do you have headcanons for which houses the dregs are in?? but if you’ve already done that, favorite classes?"

  * Kaz and Inej are in Slytherin, Jesper, Nina, and Kuwei are in Gryffindor, Wylan’s in Ravenclaw, and Matthias is in Hufflepuff
  * Kaz puts on an act like he disdains everything at hogwarts, but his marks and OWL scores don’t reflect that
  * His favorite class is DADA and he’s often off doing his own research. He’s like basically two years ahead of everyone in his class, but he hides it
  * Inej’s favorite is Care of Magical Beasts
  * When she wants to think, she often escapes into the thestral stables
  * Nina’s a charms prodigy, both in magic and personality
  * Matthias, the nerd he is, loves History of Magic and is often the only person awake in the classroom
  * He had to ask Nina to charm his trunks so they were lighter because they’re always filled with musty books
  * Wylan is a potions genius and more often than not, he can be found in the dungeons trying a new potion he found in some book
  * One time his potion exploded and burned off his eyebrows. He and Jesper didn’t want to wait for Nina, so Jesper tried to fix them and he ended up with purple eyebrows for a week because Nina thought it was hysterical and refused to help him
  * Jesper’s favorite, though not his best class, is Divination
  * He loves being super dramatic and more often than not, he turns out to be right




	43. Jesper/Kaz Three Sentence AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "For the pairing /setting/3 sentence fic - jesper/Kaz, ravka"

Jesper grinned at Kaz. Here they were, two immigrant boys in a country that would rather see them crushed under their colonial heel.

“I think we make quite the team, Rietveld.”


	44. Kanej Three Sentence 2008 AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "kanej. it’s 2008. (for your mind to really set the Scene, please remember that “gimme more” by Britney Spears was just released.)"

“Oh…is Nina really…recreating that Brittney music video…in costume?” Inej asked with a faint wobble to her voice. Kaz gripped her upper arm and started dragging her out of the crowd of people with over-highlighted hair and acid-washed jeans. 

“Time to go before Matthias calls the cops and shuts this party down.”


	45. Kanej Post-Canon Drabble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This isn't from the prompt list, but I just have so many emotions how Inej's POV in the books is the only one that notices, casually and often, when Kaz is tired or in pain or struggling physically with something. Other than Kaz's POV, of course. And I'd love your thoughts - meta, HC list, fic, whatever - on that dynamic."

Inej paused just outside Kaz’s window and let the memories come rushing back. It’d been nearly a year since she’d set off on  _The Wraith_ , and while she and Kaz had exchanged letters, she hadn’t set foot in Ketterdam since she’d left. And now here she was, on her usual perch. She made sure her captain’s hat (complete with a bright red feather courtesy of Nina) was set at a jaunty angle, then picked the window’s lock and slipped inside the candle-lit room.

“Inej.”

“Kaz.”

He didn’t stop scribbling on a piece of parchment, so Inej took a seat on the chair across from him and crossed her legs. Their year apart hadn’t changed him too much. He was in need of a haircut, and if the stack of empty mugs on his desk was any indication, several hours of deep sleep. She frowned as he took a gulp of yet another cup of probably cold coffee.

“You’re looking well,” he commented as he finally set aside his work.

“And you look like you haven’t slept in a week,” she countered. That earned her a ghost of a smile. 

“Still a nag, I see.”

Inej stood and Kaz mirrored her. “I’ll be back tomorrow. You look like you could use some rest.”

A flicker of  _something_  crossed Kaz’s face. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m fine. Wylan and Jesper will be-”

“It’s already late. Just  _rest_ , Kaz,” Inej said with a sigh. “I’ll still be here tomorrow.”

Kaz walked out from behind his desk and stood in front of her, a handspan of space between them. Inej made sure to keep her breaths slow and even. “I don’t want to waste any time I have with you. Who knows when you’ll come back. Another year? Two?”

‘I’m not leaving yet,” she said gently, but firmly. “Sleep.”

“Stay.” The Kaz Brekker she knew would never beg, but there was definitely a trace of yearning in his voice. He raised an ungloved hand hesitatingly and Inej slowly brought her own hand up and intertwined their fingers. A small shudder ran through his body, but he didn’t pull away. His hand was warm.

“I’ll…I’ll be here,” she conceded. “Just let me go inform my crew first.”

He nodded and took a step back. Inej let his hand fall from hers. “Be safe.”

“I will.” She took one last look at him as she slipped out as easily as she’d entered. His eyes never left hers.

When she re-entered half an hour later, Kaz was already asleep. She moved her chair closer to the side of the bed and leaned back so her head rested comfortably on the wall. As she let her eyes flutter shut, she placed a hand on top of Kaz’s. She relaxed when he didn’t immediately pull away, and soon, she was asleep. It was good to be back in Ketterdam. 


	46. Kaz/Jesper Headcanons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Headcanons on Kaz's cane and leg issues? I feel his disability is never addressed a lot! Thank you!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated these in a while!

  * In an older post, I headcanoned that Kaz got the injury from a job gone bad with Jesper and Jesper was the one to drag him back to the Slat
  * I’d like to think that Jesper was always checking in on him as Kaz was confined to bed rest
  * Kaz always insisted for Jesper to leave him alone, but both boys knew that Jesper’s daily visits were the only thing keeping him sane
  * The cane started as one of Jesper’s jokes
  * “It’ll help you walk, and you can whack passerby’s ankles!”
  * But Kaz clung to that idea, and eventually he and Jesper started designing it
  * That’s also when Kaz noticed Jesper was more than he said he was, he knew just a little too much about how fabrikators worked
  * But after two months of being cooped inside and Per Haskell breathing down his neck for being dead weight, Kaz goes and gets his cane made with the money from the painting he’d sold
  * He and Jesper kind of have a field day testing it out, Kaz doesn’t miss the way Jesper studies it like he’s trying to reverse-engineer the grisha small science in his head
  * They have fun testing its durability against various fruits, assorted planks of wood, and even a couple of knives filched from other dregs
  * When they’ve finally exhausted test subjects and the sun is going down, they make their way to a waffle shop for dinner, the start of a long tradition



**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Six of Crows - Short Stories and One Shots](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19114981) by [Gimmedafood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gimmedafood/pseuds/Gimmedafood)




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